Bahrain get tough Olympics qualifiers

TDT | Manama                                                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain were last night drawn in a tough Group B for their FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) as they hope to claim an historic berth in the Paris Olympics 2024.

The draw was held virtually last night by FIBA, placing the 24 participating squads in their respective OQTs, which are to be hosted by four different nations from 2 to 7 July next year.

The Kingdom’s senior men’s national basketball team are in the OQT that is to be held in Puerto Rico.

They are in Group B along with Italy and hosts Puerto Rico, while Group A in their OQT features Mexico, Ivory Coast and Lithuania.

The other OQTs are to be hosted by Spain, Latvia and Greece. Group A in the Spain OQT includes Lebanon, Angola and the host Spaniards, while Group B is composed of Finland, Poland and the Bahamas.

The Latvia OQT features Georgia, Philippines and hosts Latvia in Group A, along with Brazil, Cameroon and Montenegro in Group B. Group A in the Greece OQT features Slovenia, New Zealand and Croatia, while Group B includes Egypt, hosts Greece and the Dominican Republic.

The winners of each OQT will qualify for the Paris Games, where they will join host nation France, and the seven others who booked their berths at this year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup, namely Germany, Serbia, Japan, Australia, Canada, the US and South Sudan. They will form a field of 12 that will be going for gold at the Olympics.

Bahrain are making their historic first-ever participation in a FIBA OQT. They secured their berth in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments after sweeping their five games in the Asian pre-qualifiers held in Damascus, Syria, last August.